Oil’s Nuclear Frames: The oil industry shaping the environment with “innovative” nuclear technologies since the long 1970s

Within the debates on alternative energies and environmentalism, oil actors played a significant role by actively engaging in the debates and investing in alternative energy sources during the long-1970s. Nuclear energy in particular often recurred as a diversification project.
By studying how oil actors framed their investments in “innovations” such as In Situ Leaching in uranium mining (Mobil Oil) and nuclear fusion (Exxon, Shell, and Gulf Oil), this article argues that various prominent oil actors acknowledged the environmental impact of fossil fuel combustion and regular nuclear fission during the 1970s. Prominent oil actors, however, presented their technologies as “environmentally friendly” technofixes. In doing so, the environmental impact of these new technologies was often neglected, influencing the debates on these technologies to this day.